Kitty Deschanel | Food, Wine, and Travel Adventures in an Airstream Basecamp

You know that 1/2 can of coconut milk that's leftover after you make curry? The 1/2 can that is going to go to waste because your Sexy Nerd whined when dinner what served that he hates curry? (Maybe someone should not have pretended to love it just to impress me when we were dating...) Fellow thrifty-minded readers, don't you dare throw that coconut milk away! It's the secret ingredient to making a plain Jane instant chocolate pudding taste fancy. Especially fancy if you serve it inside a dainty Australian china teacup. This recipe couldn't possibly cost any less to make. $0.33 a box? You know there are about 20 of these in my pantry. While creating my fancy schmancy pudding, I decided to throw in a little bit of coffee. There was none left in our coffeepot, so I swiped the rest of Sexy Nerd's morning cup when he wasn't looking. I then confessed to my crime so that I could share his ridiculous coffee mug with the world. Is that frog......

Remember that greenhouse Sexy Nerd and I built together? Yeah, I'm taking credit for it. Supervising is hard work! I also provided snacks, Subway sandwiches, and icy sodas, which anyone doing hard manual labor will tell you is a much-appreciated job. I tried to provide icy beer too, but Sexy Nerd said drinking and heavy lifting never go together. He's so moral, that crazy guy of mine. Luckily for the icy beer, I was not doing any heavy lifting. Sexy Nerd worked all day long, tirelessly moving each 80 pound bag of concrete from the bottom of our lot up the steep, uneven ground until all 6,800 pounds were accounted for. When the 85th bag finally reached the top, I ran up to him in celebration. He was sunburned and sweaty; his hair ashen with cement dust. He'd done it! I threw my arms around him. Phew! Sexy Nerd reeked. I knew he'd worked hard, but this was too much. Recoiling, I vowed we would not ride home in the same car. Which leads me to the Sexy Stinky Ne...

There's a screech owl who has been flying all around my neighborhood. Our weekly newsletter pointed out this "cute visitor" at the beginning of December. Here he is, perched on a neighbor's front door. It's called a SCREECH owl, not a fluffy owl or a cutesy owl or a buddy owl. Think of a kitten. Now, think of a SCREECH kitten. Scary, right? Perched nonchalantly, he's plotting his next evil deed in that evil feathered head of his. It's what they do. This is exactly why all houses need multiple ways in and out. You say you love owls, but you wouldn't dare open this door with him sitting on it. Insist all you want that it's just so you don't disturb him. We both know it's because owls are scary little f*ckers. The next weekend, the screech owl was photographed at a neighbor's wood pile. Supposedly, it's the same "cute visitor" as before, but this one looks bigger to me. And scarier. And, though I wouldn't h...

Our house needs to be finished by July 1st...and we don't even have our flooring, stucco, roof, or cabinets installed! In fact, I don't think anyone from Panorama Homes has even been to our house this entire week. The deadline is quickly approaching and our house is just sitting there, empty and forgotten. I email the builder and the foreman for an update and am ignored. I ask our builder in person what the plan is for next week and am told, "I don't know". We're screwed, aren't we? "Screwed and tattooed," my boss says. It's not the sort of language one expects to hear from a little old lady, and especially not from a children's dentist, so it sticks with me. Screwed and tattooed , I think, staring at the unfinished, well, everything. Screwed and tattooed. On the plus side, the work that has been completed looks great. The interior walls have all been painted (Sherwin Williams Polite White), the tongue and groove ceiling is up, and ...